Sunday, August 07, 2005

Scrap Sorting...

It's been so hot! (yes, I've said this before and I'll say it again!) It kind of takes the wind out of wanting to sit and sew and work with an iron close at hand. So....I've spent time each day the past few days sorting through a bin of scraps that was kind of accumulating. Leftover strips of borders, and trimmings from quilt backings mostly. I've got them stripped down into different sizes of strips from 1.5" to 3.5" and put in their little individual bins, and I've got a handful of pieces to trim to either 2" or 2.5" squares. Sometimes when doing this, it gets my fuel going again so I have the desire to sit and sew with that hot iron!

It seems when people know I sew, and sew charity quilts, they are always bringing me THEIR cast offs to guild and sending them home with me. This is a mixed blessing! Sometimes (and I haven't figured this out yet) it is more fun to sew with someone else's cast offs than it is to sew with my own yardage! Maybe they sent me fabrics that I've never had in my collection before, or a different style or color than I am drawn to, and they add so much interest to my scrap quilts, even the easy ones I am donating. Alot of our charity quilts go to children, and I'm not drawn to buying brights and novelties, so when they come in, it is fun to sew with them.

Then there is that rule of "if it's still ugly, you just didn't cut it small enough"....I love log cabins made from 1.5" strips and EVERYTHING goes in there, and the uglies just either blend in or add a spark. Not much showing to identify a fabric is ugly by the time you take those seam allowances.

I set aside some full width of fabric 1.5" strips from these trimmings I've been doing to use in the mitre box blocks. I'm hoping I can get organized and get back to them. This week I have a quiz, a term paper, and a midterm practical exam. I think my brain is so frazzled that I am having a hard time concentrating on piecing. So this is where the whizzy whacking down of scraps at least fits the bill and accomplishes something for now!

1 comment:

Hi Bonnie,I've not been in a very quilty mood for the last few months. But I have been playing with my fabric and cutting all the pieces parts into assorted strips, squares, and bricks. I've been in a bit of a blue funk lately and find myself spending most of my free time vegetating in front of the computer playing mindless games. I promised myself that this weekend I would make time to sew if even just for 30 minutes or so a day.

So Friday night I pulled my 2" and 3-1/2" strips and squares and cut enough for 32 8" Chunky Churn dash blocks. (I'm not much into small blocks so I just chose strip sizes that would give me a bit bigger block.) I managed to get 22 of the blocks sewn this weekend and hope to have the rest of the blocks pieces and the top but together within the next few days. I'm thinking of just setting these together with 3" sashing and scrappy cornerstones instead of with the hourglass blocks. I have it in mind that this will give it a kinda modified irish chain look. We'll see. :-)

This project has given me the kick in the butt I needed to get back sewing. I thank you for your great website with all the wonderful scrappy patterns you share so freely.

BTW, I've also been using bright 2-1/2" squares as leaders and enders. Don't know where I'm going with those yet but plenty of time to decide that later.